By John Williams © March 2006
G'day
Mate!
Second week away from dear old Blighty and I'm in need of some real
ale. So where is the Pub?
"Elephant and Wheelbarrow" that will do, I'll stay here, Stella is off to
check out the shops.
They have large departmental stores in the Mall with several
precincts.
When it is hot (It's spring here 37 degrees) we head for the Yarra Yarra
(Crazy, Crazy) River and take
a trip down stream, past the Olympic Park -Rod Laver Arena, (Australian Open
Tennis) The Oval,
(Cricket) and the Swimming Pool, (do you remember seeing it with long glass
strips at the end?)
A boat trip helps you to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life, and take it easy.
They also have a clever idea of removing the floating litter from
the river by placing a boom where
the eddies are.
We finished our round trip and continued to walk along the wide south
bank promenade, cafe and bars
with the veranda's one side and the children enjoying the random water spouts
on the other side,
so everyone was "COOL"
It's a good way to view the different areas: The Parks
and Gardens, the Universities, Victoria Harbour and the New
Stadium for this year's Commonwealth
Games. Not enough time in Melbourne to see Phillip
Island, the two attractions being the wild life and the Grand Prix Circuit....Oh
well, I'll just have to
add it to the list of 'Must do' !!!
We are heading off to Melbourne airport now (Sunday) ready for our
internal flight to Sydney, only an hour away on a 747. Stella suffers
from motion
sickness so the smaller plane will be a problem.
SYDNEY
The appartment is good and in the centre of the city, lots of shops,
0-600 covered market - Queen Victoria Building - Harbour/Ferries - Opera
House -
the Botanical Gardens - Parks-Mono Rail -Sydney Tower -Oz Trek,
so there is plenty here for us to see and do. So where shall we start?
-another hot day!
-so we walk to the harbour for the ferry to Manly.
It has two beaches and is Australia's first sea-side resort, a mecca
for lovers
of sand, sea and surf, this surf school is Sydney's largest.
Haven't got time to do this today, I'll add it to my growing list of 'Must do'.
Walk along the beach to a small cafe for a cream tea, pass "Ocean
World"
and check out...wait for it!.....Shark Dive Xtreme!.....
The high street has several boutique shops, time for me to try the 'Amber
Nector'
(Sydney Tower pictured right)
Next day it's a trip on the Mono Rail -'Cool' -drop off where you
like,
the food hall gives you a good idea of the ethnic diversity in Sydney.
Still hot, so prehaps a walk to the Botanical Gardens by the bay
will keep
us cool and get away from the flies, we pass the Opera House and its just
as impressive inside as well as outside. I also noticed the clever
construction of the roof (segments of a sphere).
Onwards through the park passing a very large Yew tree and water
feature
with Pelicans in it. Time for coffee and check out the gift shop.
hanging down like small umbrellas.
The ferries are good value for money, so we took a local trip and
stopped
off at different points starting at Darling Harbour.
Sydney harbour bridge, you can walk over the top of the arch but there is a three month waiting list (one more to add to zee list!)
Circular quay was the site of the first european settlements. "The Rocks" originally the home of convicts. On the starboard is a Ocean liner bound for New Zealand.
Ahead is six dock's for ferries, to port is river taxi's and speed boats.
Above the quay is the elevated railway station, you could catch a train to Bondi Beach - I may see Pamela Anderson -now there is an idea!!
It's time for dinner now, so we head back to Darling Harbour. It's
very attractive at night with the lights along both sides of the quay -it
would take a fortnight to
visit each restaurant along the wharf with bars and live music, it's quite
an atmosphere!...........We order our food and the young waiter is from
Aylesbury!
a large store on three levels and in two halls, full of independent shops.
-Stella loved it!
The building is rectangular with entrances in the middle accessible
on both
sides and in the middle is a very large Christmas tree (artificial) which
you
can walk underneath, the top ending on the third floor, also it has a
clock,
on the hour it shows you the important events in the history of Great Britain
(Magna Carta) on the other half was the history of Australia.
I spent some considerable time in the aboriginal art and craft shop.
Thats it!.....time to catch the jumbo back home, I'll miss the dinners around Darling Harbour at night -enjoyed meeting our extended family, and the Australian humour!
Still we have been there, and as it say's on my tee-shirt "NO WORRIES- BE HAPPY"
